Eliminating LPNs - are hospitals doing this?
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Hello All,
My mother is an LPN at a major women's and children's medical center in Honolulu. Recently the hospital announced that it may eliminate the LPN position throughout the hopsital in the... Read More

Aug 12, '03

Here, we're actually expanding what our LPNs can do. LPNs can take a semester long course that trains them to do IVs and NGs...something we could never do before. A lot of the RNs we work with say we are taught more in the IV/NG course than they ever were about IVs/NGs/fluid & electrolytes, etc. We're also training LPNs to assist in ER, OB, ICU....we do a lot of things that CNAs do, plus give meds, EKGs, etc. Here, LPNs are a huge part of the nursing team. Yes, we're still under the RN's license, but we are very, very much responsible for ourselves and if we screw up and go to court, it's very likely that we'll go down before the RN.

Aug 12, '03

Well said DayRay

Aug 12, '03

Eliminating an important role such as the LPN is simply fools' economics. The all mighty dollar means more to the bottom liners. I hate to read that this is happening all over.

Aug 12, '03

I first heard about eliminating LPN's in 1966. It was supposed to happen within two years.

Aug 13, '03

hi, i worked in a hospital that did not hire lpn's. however, i lived in an area that did not have a shortage of rn's. our ratios were reasonable. we had plenty of cna's to do all adl's, meals etc. we did everthing technical i.e. meds, iv's, tx's, assessments etc. i thoroughly enjoyed it because i felt like a nurse. can you believe i probably did a bedpan once in five years on the floor. to me that is what nursing should be.

Aug 13, '03

ktwlpn,Our managers have it figured out great. First they tell LPN's they can only work in 2 departments. Then they bought 5 seats for the next 7 years at our local college and said they would pay your salary to you for 1.5 years while you did a bridge program and clinical clinical the last year and half of RN classes.
By the way.
Thanks for the next five years.
The organization says,with a smile (:

1. It is not economical.
2.It is not Practical .............Anyone else know that word Practical?

I dont know but to be honest folk...I like what I do as an LPN I have no desire to be an RN. I respect what they do and most do it well,but as with all in life there are by the same token I know LPN's who are not so slick, sharpest tool in the shed,well you know it's like this folk you got bad in everything nothing can escape that.Me? me, well I am fine where I am let RN's be RN's d and let LPN's be LPN's .

Much Peace
Billy

Aug 13, '03

I feel very fortunate to work in a hospital that utilizes LPN's. At least on my floor the RN, LPN, CNA all work together as a team. The LPN is a huge assest because they can help with charting, calling doctors, medications, IV fluids, dressing changes, patient care, etc. When you have 7-9 patients to care for on day shift and the pattients are strokes, orthopedic, neurosurgical- you need all the help you can get! I also know our floor is good at giving the LPN's extra training they need to provide care and keep them from just having to be a "med nurse".

Aug 13, '03

here in connecticut, there are many jobs for lpn's and the opportunities are growing. there is no way that cna's can replace the lpn. it would be downright dangerous. the same goes for lpn's replacing rn's. we all have our own scope of practice and do go out of it, is not only illegal but more importantly dangerous to the patients. the lpn programs here are always full and private schools are offering several classes going on at the same time, some starting in sept, another in march. many of the jobs in the newspaper, the ads ask for "lpn/rn for snf", meaning either may apply for that position. i am going for rn, because i want to learn more and be able to do more. there are more opportunities for the rn, but that doesn't mean that there aren't many jobs for the lpn. it makes me disgusted to hear about hospitals/facilities trying to save money in this manner. this is not the place to cut corners, we are dealing with peoples lifes here.

atleast here in ct, i don't see the lpn becoming obsolete. if anything, they are growing in numbers and play an important role in healthcare.

Aug 13, '03

I don't see LPN's being totally eliminated in the near future, but eventually I think LPN's will become obsolete. When I got my LPN in '84 I heard we would be phased out by 1990. That didn't happen, but in '98 I went on to get my RN because I felt my job security was threateneed as an LPN and I was doing the work of an RN anyway. Mine and most of the hospitals in my area are not hiring LPN's. As the current LPN's leave/retire, the vacant positions are filled with RN's. More formal education in the form of advanced degrees is the trend no matter what career field anyone is in. I don't necessarily always agree with that, but it is the way of the future.

Aug 13, '03

Originally posted by cna on her way They can't just let her go anyhow. There should be some type of grandfather clause in effect for the LPNs that are already working.

I wouldn't bank on that one.

Aug 13, '03

The hospital I used to work at did this. They gave their staff a timeline to keep their jobs and go back to school to become an RN or else lose their jobs. It was not pretty.

renerian:

Aug 13, '03

When I became an LPN in Ma in 1990, I could not get a job in a hospital at all, as jobs were going to RNs only. I then became an RN and started work in a hospital and the LPN's were phased out, then went to work in Boston at an all RN hospital. However, when I moved to Va, I've seen LPN's in a variety of settings, including the ICU so I suppose it depends upon the state and its resources or lack thereof. I personally think it would be easier for nursing education to be stream-lined like all other professions and would elimininate the RN vs. LPN issues, but it is highly unlikely this will come to be.

Aug 13, '03

I hope that the health care field doesn't do away with LPN's. I just graduated from a two year program to become a LPN. I've worked very hard to get where I am. On Friday I go take the state boards. Right now I'm working in a nursing home as a GPN. I don't see myself conintuing education to become a RN, I'm happy right where I am. This is the first time I've heard of eliminating LPN's. I'm from upstate NY, and their aren't enough LPN's to go around as it is. I take my job very seriously as like all other LPN's.